Field of the Invention
This relates to information systems, computational systems, and data structures. More particularly, this relates to systems and methods for creating and sharing user-generated information via computer networks.
Description of Related Art
The Internet is a repository and communication channel and medium for a plurality of nodes accessed by computing devices for human use. The Internet is a network of networks of such nodes. The Internet, essentially, comprises information. The Internet is a massive corroboration and collaboration of information. This information is typically hosted by means of plurality of websites or web that can be accessed by their unique identity on the Internet which is generally referred to as its URL (uniform resource locator).
Each website or web page comprises pertinent information in relation to what the host intends to display. E.g., a travel website might feature information, pictures, videos, and the like, and data in relation to various geographical locations. Similarly, an encyclopedia page might feature topic-wise data and related explanations; a music website might feature music-genre specific information; and the like. While dynamic data/content can be utilized, most content is static and host-controlled, i.e., a website host selects the data/content to be displayed and may change it from time to time.
Further advances include “crowd-sourced” databases and websites such as Wikipedia where the content can continuously be changed. Users can log-in and change the content along with references on an ad hoc basis. Such changes are logged and changed made by each person are reflected to anyone accessing the page through the Internet.
Snippets of information can be shared for example by copying or pasting either the content, or a URL directing a person to the content. Such sharing is currently enabled through a variety of means including e-mail, social media sharing sites, peer-to-peer networks, messaging modules, and other communication channels. However, such methods of sharing have many limitations. For example, while current sharing methods provides some ability to share online content in a manner such that links to existing online information e.g. by tagging, highlighting, commenting, pinning files, and the like, the ability to do so is quite limited
Therefore, there is a need for improved systems and methods that allow creating and sharing content in relation to existing content, by tagging (e.g., identifying, highlighting, commenting upon, adding keywords to, pinning files to, and the like), certain portions of existing websites or web-pages.